Systems and methods for processing multi-party insurance claim payouts

ABSTRACT

A system includes an insurance claim processing circuit having instructions to receive an insurance claim payment request based on an insurance claim regarding an insured entity, evaluate the insurance claim payment request, receive a work progress indicator directly from a contractor device that is operated by a contractor and not the insured entity, the work progress indicator regarding a repair of an insured object associated with the insurance claim payment request, in response to determining a claim amount in the insurance claim payment request is above a predetermined threshold, generate and provide an authorization request including a request to confirm an identity of the contractor, and in response receiving a confirmation of the identity of the contractor, cause dispersal of an amount of funds based on the insurance claim payment request to the insured entity.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/685,873 titled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCESSING MULTI-PARTYINSURANCE CLAIM PAYOUTS,” filed Aug. 24, 2017, which claims the benefitof and priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/380,134entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROCESSING MULTI-PARTY INSURANCE CLAIMPAYOUTS,” filed Aug. 26, 2016, both of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to processing multi-partyinsurance claim payouts.

BACKGROUND

Today, insurance claim processing is a detailed, complex, andtime-consuming process. In particular, a typical scenario in regard to ahomeowner is as follows. An incident occurs that leads to an insuranceclaim (e.g., a natural disaster, such as a tornado, flooding, etc.). Thehomeowner contacts their insurance company to obtain financial relief tocope with the damage. The insurance company dispatches an agent to thehome to assess the damage caused by the incident. As a result of theanalysis and assuming the insurance company chooses to payout the claim,the insurance company issues a two-party check to both the home ownerand the mortgage company of the homeowner. The homeowner must then trackdown a representative of the mortgage company to endorse the check. Uponendorsement, the homeowner may finally receive the insurance claimpayout. Thus, not only must a series of steps occur in order for thehomeowner to obtain the insurance claim payout, but the process is verytime-consuming. In particular, obtaining an endorsement from arepresentative of the mortgage company may be extremely time-consuming.Further, even after an endorsement from the representative, thehomeowner must then wait until the funds are actually dispersed.Depending on the nature of the damage and the homeowner's financialsituation, each passing day can be very challenging for the homeowner tocope with their situation. Thus, several pain points exist with thecurrent two-party processing scenario.

SUMMARY

A first example embodiment relates to an apparatus. The apparatusincludes a claim payment circuit structured to receive an insuranceclaim payment request regarding a physical multiple party check based onan insurance claim regarding an insured entity; a disposition circuitstructured to evaluate the insurance claim payment request, and providea final disposition message responsive to the evaluation, the finaldisposition message including an indication regarding an authorizationto disburse a portion of funds of a claim amount designated in theinsurance claim payment request, wherein the provided dispositionmessage activates a graphical user interface to display the finaldisposition message; and a fund transfer circuit structured tofacilitate dispersal of the portion of funds to the insured responsiveto the final disposition message.

Another example embodiment relates to a system. The system includes amultiple party insurance claim processing circuit comprising memoryhaving instructions stored therein and at least one processor structuredto execute the instructions to: receive an insurance claim paymentrequest based on an insurance claim regarding an insured entity;evaluate the insurance claim payment request; and cause dispersal of anamount of funds based on the insurance claim payment request to theinsured entity.

Another example embodiment relates to a method. The method includesreceiving, by a processing circuit, an electronic insurance claimpayment request based on an insurance claim regarding an insured entity;evaluating, by the processing circuit, the electronic insurance claimpayment request; and facilitating, by the processing circuit, adispersal of an amount of funds based on the electronic insurance claimpayment request to the insured entity.

These and other features, together with the organization and manner ofoperation thereof, will become apparent from the following detaileddescription when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a diagram of a computing system, according to an exampleembodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the user device of FIG. 1 , according to anexample embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram the multiple party insurance claims processingcircuit of FIG. 1 , according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a graphical user interface provide by the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a flow diagram of a method of processing an insurance claimpayout, according to an example embodiment.

FIG. 5B is a flow diagram of a method of processing an insurance claimpayout, according to another example embodiment.

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram of a method of processing an insurance claimpayout, according to still another example embodiment.

FIG. 6B is a flow diagram of a method of processing an insurance claimpayout, according to yet another example embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a process diagram for processing an insurance claim payout,according to still another example embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method of processing an insurance claimpayout, according to yet another example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the Figures generally, systems, methods, and apparatusesfor processing multiple party insurance claim payouts are providedaccording to various embodiments herein. According to the presentdisclosure, a multiple party insurance claim processing circuit may becommunicably coupled to a user device associated with a user and aninsurance company computing system. In this regard, the user may be aninsured person or entity. Based on the communicable coupling, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit may be structured toreceive an insurance claim payment request (e.g., from the insurancecompany computing system). For example, the user's home may have beenrecently affected by a natural disaster, which in turn caused the userto make an insurance claim. In response, the insurance company evaluatedthe claim and decided to pay the claim or a portion thereof.Accordingly, the insurance company issued the insurance claim paymentrequest. Thus, the insurance claim payment request refers to anauthorization from the insurance company associated with the insurancecompany computing system to pay the insurance claim. The insurance claimpayment request may include an identification of the recipient of thepayment, an amount of payment, etc. Accordingly, the insurance claimpayment may include a physical check such as a multi-party check, anelectronic check or other electronic deposit form, and/or a combinationthereof. In this regard and in one embodiment, the insurance claimpayment request is a multi-party check, which designates the user (i.e.,the insured) and the user's lending institution as the recipient.Responsive to receiving the insurance claim payment request, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit may generate andprovide an authorization request to the insured. Beneficially and as anadditional layer of security, the authorization request may serve as anidentification process to confirm the identity of the insured. In somearrangements, the authorization request may be tailored to the specificclaim (e.g., a home damage claim versus an automobile damage claim,claims below or within a certain amount, etc.). For example, forrelatively larger claims (e.g., greater than $15,000), the authorizationrequest may be a request for a biometric of the insured. Afterverification, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit mayevaluate the insurance claim payment. Evaluation may include confirmingthe identity of the insured (e.g., via the authorization requestdescribed above), confirming a sufficiency of information, determiningan indication of fraud regarding the insured, whether the requestedamount appears to be commiserate with the damage, and any other check toevaluate the insurance claim payment. Based on the evaluation, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit may disburse orfacilitate dispersal of the insurance claim payment amount.

In one embodiment, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuitcauses or facilitates causing a dispersal of an entire amount of theinsurance claim payment request (i.e., the full claim amount authorizedby the insurance company). In another embodiment, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit causes or facilitates causingdispersal of a partial amount of the insurance claim payment amount.Such partial disbursement may be based on the evaluation. For example,for relatively larger claims (e.g., fund requests above a thresholdamount, such as $15,0000), the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit may provide a safeguard against misappropriation of theinsurance claim payment amount by requiring a work progression indicator(e.g., a status update). The work progression indicator may be receiveddirectly from the insured and/or from relevant personnel (e.g., acontractor performing the house repairs). Thus, the remainder of theinsurance claim payment amount may be held in an escrow account and thendisbursed as the work progression indicators show more and more progressbeing performed. Beneficially, such a mechanism alleviates providing arelatively large disbursement amounts. Further, such a mechanism enablesmonitoring of the claim to reduce the likelihood of insurance fraud.

The systems, methods, and apparatuses of the present disclosure provideseveral advantages. Beneficially, a disposition regarding the insuranceclaim payment may be accomplished in real-time or near real-time, whichgreatly reduces the time-delay that many claimants experience in regardto typical multi-party payouts. Further, by manipulating an input deviceof a user device to, e.g., provide biometric information or to encryptthe payment request, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit may securely or relatively securely process the multi-partyinsurance claim payout. These and other features and benefits aredescribed more fully herein.

As used herein, the term “multi-party insurance claim(s)” refers to aninsurance payout directed towards two or more parties. In particular,the two or more parties include the insured party(ies) and a lender.Thus, an example of a multi-party insurance claim is a two-party check.The two-party check may be made out to the insured party(ies) and thelender. In this regard, authorization may be required from each of theparties before the funds associated with insurance claim payment arereleased or disbursed. Thus and as used herein, the “multi-” or“multiple” part designation refers to the ability to designate more thantwo entities. It should be understood that while the bulk of thedisclosure is directed towards a multi-party insurance claim for aninsured home, the disclosure is also applicable with multi-party payoutsfor other insured objects (e.g., automobiles, boats, animals, etc.).Thus, the present disclosure is not meant to be limiting to only thehome-context. Rather, the present disclosure may be applicable with anymulti-party payout situation where the payout is endorsed by two or moreparties and where one of those parties is a lender. Accordingly, thoseof ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize and appreciate thewide applicability of the present disclosure.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , a block diagram of a computing system 100 isshown according to an example embodiment. As described herein, thecomputing system 100 may enable relatively fast and efficient processingof multi-party insurance claims. As shown, the computing system 100includes one or more user devices 110 associated with a user 101, aninsurance company 130 associated with an insurance company computingsystem 132, a lending institution 140 having or including an associatedlending institution computing system 142, and a financial institutionhaving or including an associated financial institution computing system152. The components of FIG. 1 may be communicably and operativelycoupled to each other over a network 102. The network 102 may be anytype of type of network. For example, the network 102 may be a wirelessnetwork interface (e.g., 802.11X, ZigBee, Bluetooth, Internet, etc.), awired network interface (e.g., Ethernet), and/or any combinationthereof. The network 102 is structured to permit the exchange of data,values, instructions, messages, and the like between and among the userdevice 110, the insurance company computing system 132, the lendinginstitution computing system 142, and the financial institutioncomputing system 152.

The insurance company 130 may be any type of insurance entity thatprovides insurance services. For example, the insurance company 130 mayprovide residential or commercial property loans, automobile loans, boatloans, personal loans, etc. Further, in this arrangement, the insurancecompany 130 is a separate entity relative to the lending institution 140and the financial institution 150.

The insurance company 130 is shown to include or be associated with aninsurance company computing system 132 having a claim processing circuit134. The computing system 132 may include any combination of processingand network interface components including, but not limited to, one ormore memory components, one or more processing components, a networkinterface that facilitates communicable coupling over the network 102 tothe user device 110 and lending institution 140, and the like. The oneor more memory components, processing components, and network interfacemay have the same or similar structure as that described herein belowwith respect to the processor 143, memory 144, and network interface 145of the lending computing system 142. Further, the insurance companycomputing system 132 may also include an accounts database that isstructured to hold, retain, or otherwise serve as a searchablerepository for holding information relating to each provided loan andloan recipient.

The claim processing circuit 134 is structured to facilitate theprocessing of insurance claims submitted by insured entities or agentsof the insurance company 130. The claim processing circuit 134 may bestructured to receive and process a claim. In this regard, the term“claim” as used herein with respect to the claim processing circuit 134refers to a request from an insured for the insurance company 130 for apayment in accordance with the insured's insurance policy. The claim maybe received directly from the insured or may be received from arepresentative of the insurance company 130 (e.g., an insurance agent).For example, an insurance agent may be disposed in a natural disasterarea and submit claims on behalf of one or more affected insureds withinthe natural disaster area.

Thus, to enable processing of a claim directly from a customer, theclaim processing circuit 134 may be or be provided as a server-basedapplication, hard coded or at least partially hard coded into memory ofthe user device 110, a web-based interface, etc. that provides agraphical user interface (GUI) on the user device 110. Via the GUI, theinsured or insurance company agent may provide various information tosubmit a claim. For example, the insured may take one or more photos ofthe damage, provide identifying information (e.g., name, passcode,account number, etc.), and any other information related to a claim inorder to submit that claim or claims to the claim processing circuit 134and, in turn, the insurance company 130.

In one embodiment, the claim processing circuit 134 may make a decisionwhether to approve the claim based on logic contained within the claimprocessing circuit 134. In another embodiment, an insurance agent orother relevant personnel associated with the insurance company 130 maymake a determination whether to approve claim. In this embodiment, theclaim processing circuit 134 may serve as a conduit of receiving andproviding the claim to the appropriate personnel. In eitherconfiguration, a notification may be generated and provided to, e.g.,the user device 110 responsive to determining whether to approve theclaim (and, eventually, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit 160). If more information is required to make a decision, thenotification may be a request for more information as compared to anapproval or denial message. It should be understood that the remainingdisclosure is based on an approval or partial approval of the claim(e.g., partial approval is meant to indicate that an amount less thanthe full requested amount is approved for dispersal to the insured).

As shown, the lending institution 140 includes or is associated with anlending institution computing system 142. In the example shown, thelending institution 140 represents a lending entity (e.g., a homemortgage provider). As a lending entity, the lending institution 140 mayprovide loans to various entities, such as individuals, groups ofindividuals, entities, and the like. Accordingly, the lendinginstitution 140 is structured to provide and therefore hold one or moreloans (e.g., a home mortgage, an automobile purchase loan, etc.) for auser.

The lending institution computing system 142 includes a processor 143and a memory device 144, a network interface 145, an accounts database146, and the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160. Theprocessor 143 may be implemented as a general-purpose processor, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), one or more fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digital signal processor (DSP), agroup of processing components, or other suitable electronic processingcomponents. The one or more memory devices 144 (e.g., RAM, ROM, NVRAM,Flash Memory, hard disk storage, etc.) may store data and/or computercode for facilitating at least some of the various processes describedherein. In this regard, the memory 144 may store programming logic that,when executed by the processor 143, control the operation of theenterprise institution computing system 142. The network interface 145facilitates the sending and receiving of data over the network 102(e.g., to and from the user device 110, etc.).

The accounts database 146 may be structured to store customerinformation and account information relating to accounts held by thelending institution 140. More particularly, the accounts database 146may store, categorize, classify, and otherwise serve as a searchablerepository for loan accounts. The loan accounts may include informationrelating to a loan provided by the lending institution 140, whichincludes, but is not limited to, a loan account number, an addressnumber of the loan recipient, contact information regarding the loanrecipient, a social security number regarding the loan recipient,employment history regarding the loan recipient, information regardingthe loan itself (e.g., a term, an interest rate, etc.), a representativewho authorized the loan, a reason/object for the loan (e.g., homemortgage, automobile loan, boat loan, personal loan, small businessloan, etc.), and any other information regarding the loan provided bythe enterprise institution 140. Due to the high amount of informationthat may be stored in the accounts database 146 and as mentioned above,the accounts database 146 may include logic that facilitates thesearching, analysis, classification, and any other capabilities forproviding efficient storage solutions. For example, the accountsdatabase 146 may be configured as a table with logic that enablesauthorized personnel to search. Thus, those of ordinary skill in the artwill readily appreciate and recognize the wide configurability of theaccounts database 146 with all such variations intended to fall withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

The financial institution 150 may be an entity that provides financialservices and products, such as banking and wealth management. Forexample, in regard to wealth management, the financial institution 150may facilitate helping, assisting, or otherwise managing a customer'swealth (e.g., investing services, retirement services, etc.). In regardto banking, the financial institution 150 may be a banking entity thatholds one or more bank accounts (e.g., demand deposit accounts such as achecking account, etc.). In this arrangement, the financial institution150 is a separate entity relative to the lending institution 140 and theinsurance company 130.

The financial institution 150 is shown to include or be associated witha financial institution computing system 152. The computing system 152may include any combination of processing and network interfacecomponents including, but not limited to, one or more memory components,one or more processing components, a network interface that facilitatescommunicable coupling over the network 102 to the user device 110 andlending institution 140, and the like. The one or more memorycomponents, processing components, and network interface may have thesame or similar structure as that described herein with respect to theprocessor 143, memory 144, and network interface 145 of the lendingcomputing system 142. Further, the financial institution computingsystem 152 may also include an accounts database that is structured tohold, retain, or otherwise serve as a searchable repository forinformation relating to each account held at the financial institution150 (e.g., information regarding each demand deposit account).

As shown and mentioned herein, the financial institution 150 is separatefrom each of the insurance company 130 and the lending institution 140.However, this depiction is exemplary only. For example, in otherconfiguration, the financial institution may include the lendinginstitution. As such and in this configuration, the financialinstitution may providing banking and lending services to customers andpotential customers. In another example, the insurance company 130 maybe a party of the financial institution 150 or the lending institution140. Thus, the depiction of the components in FIG. 1 is exemplary onlyand those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate the highconfigurability of the components, with all such variations intended tofall within the scope of the present disclosure.

As shown, the user 101 may have or be associated with a user device 110.The user 101 may include individuals, business representatives, largeand small business owners, and any other entity. In one embodiment, theuser 101 is insured by the insurance company 130, has a loan for theinsured object through the lending institution 140, and banks at thefinancial institution 150. In this regard and unless otherwise stated,the user 101 may be referred to as the insured herein. It should beunderstood that while the bulk of the disclosure contained herein is inregard to this embodiment, this configuration is not meant to belimiting. In this regard and in another embodiment, the user 101 may bea representative or agent of the insurance company 130. In yet anotherembodiment, the user may be a representative or agent of the financialinstitution 150. In still another embodiment, the user may be arepresentative or agent of the lending institution 140. Thus and asdescribed herein, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuitclient application 162 may be controlled by at least one of the insuredor agent of the at least one of the financial institution, insurancecompany, and lending institution. Accordingly, at least one of theseparties may explicitly provide information through the application 162to the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160. Beforeturning to these specifics, the user device 110 is firstly described.

The user device 110 may be generally described as a mobile device 120.The mobile device 120 may include any wearable device. Wearable devicesrefer to any type of device that a user wears including, but not limitedto, a watch (e.g., a smart watch), glasses (e.g., eye glasses, sunglasses, smart glasses, etc.), bracelet (e.g., a smart bracelet), etc.Mobile device 120 may also include any type of mobile device of a user101 including, but not limited to, a phone (e.g., a smartphone, etc.)and a computing device (e.g., a tablet computer, a laptop computer, aperson digital assistant, desktop computer, etc.). Accordingly, the userdevice 110 may include a display device (e.g., a screen) and one or moreinput/output devices (e.g., a touch screen, microphone, speaker,keyboard, etc.).

As described herein, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit 160 may be structured to receive an insurance claim paymentrequest, evaluate the insurance claim payment request, and disperse orfacilitate dispersal of the funds associated with insurance claimpayment request to the user 101 (i.e., insured). In one embodiment, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 causes to providea partial disbursement, where disbursement of the remaining funds is inresponse to reception of one or more work progression indicatorsregarding the claim. Further and in one embodiment, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 may generate and provide anauthorization request to the insured in order to receive explicitauthorization from the insured to process the insurance claim paymentrequest. Beneficially, such a step alleviates or substantiallyalleviates the possibility of un-authorized entities intercepting theinsurance claim payment requests. As described herein andadvantageously, the insurance claim payment may be received as anelectronic insurance claim payment request (e.g., an electronic depositrequest) or as a physical check (e.g., a physical multi-party check),such that the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 maybe useable/applicable in each circumstance.

As shown, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 isincluded with the lending institution 140. In this regard and asmentioned herein above, a multi- or multiple party insurance paymentcheck designates the insured (i.e., user 101) and the lendinginstitution as the recipients. As described herein, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 may evaluate the claim prior tothe allowing a release of the funds to the insured. In order to allowthe release of funds, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit 160 is allowed (by the designated recipient on check) to makesuch authorizations. Accordingly and in one embodiment, the multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit 160 is disposed with thelending institution 140, where the circuit 160 is provided with a finalauthority to allow dispersal of the funds of the insurance paymentclaim. It should be understood that in certain configurations, thelending institution 140 may hire or commission a third-party service toprocess insurance claim payments. In this regard, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 may be included with a computingsystem associated with the third-party service provider.

However, the configuration described above where the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 is included with the lendinginstitution 140 is not meant to be limiting as the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 may be included with othercomponents of FIG. 1 as well (e.g., the user device 110, the financialinstitution 150, and/or the insurance company 130). In theseconfigurations, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit160 may be communicably coupled to the lending institution 140 (i.e.,the other designated recipient on a multi-party check) in order toquickly or relatively quick obtain approval to release funds associatedwith an insurance claim payment amount. Further and according to analternate embodiment, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit 160 may be a separate computing system relative to each of theinsurance company 130, lending institution 140, and financialinstitution 150. Accordingly, a high configurability/arrangement of themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 is possible, withall such variations intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

The multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 may support orprovide a multiple party insurance claim processing circuit clientapplication 162. At the support or instruction of the circuit 160, theclient application 162 may generate or provide one or more graphicaluser interfaces (GUIs) that enable the operator/user of the GUI to inputinformation and/or otherwise exchange information with the multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit 160. In this regard and asshown, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit clientapplication 162 may optionally be included with the insurance companycomputing system 132 and/or the financial institution computing system152. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may provide an application programming interface(API) and/or a software development kit (SDK) with the clientapplication 162 that facilitates the integration of other applicationswith the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit clientapplication 162. Thus, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit client application 162 may be an API that is integrated with oneor more applications provided by the insurance company 130, lendinginstitution 140, and/or financial institution 150.

It should be understood that other configurations regarding the multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit are possible. For example, themultiple party insurance circuit client application 162 may be aserver-based application executable on the user device 110. In thisregard, a user may have to first download the application(s) prior totheir usage. The multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160may then at least partly control operation of the client application162. In another example, the multiple party insurance circuit clientapplication 162 may be hard coded into the memory of the user device110. Thus, in this configuration and as mentioned above, the multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit 160 may also be included withthe user device 110. For example, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may be provided as an integrated circuit, asystem on a chip, machine-readable media executable by a processor ofthe user device 110, and/or some combination therewith. Accordingly, awide degree of structural configuration is possible with all suchpossibilities intended to fall within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

Based on the foregoing, the structure and function of the multiple partyinsurance claim circuit 160 may be explained more fully in regard toFIG. 3 . However, before turning to the structure and function of themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160, the user device110 may firstly be described. Accordingly, referring now to FIG. 2 , thefunction and structure of the user device 110 with the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit client application 162 is shown ingreater detail, according to an example embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2 ,the user device 110 includes a processing circuit 201 having a processor202 and a memory 203. The processor 202 may be implemented as ageneral-purpose processor, an application specific integrated circuit(ASIC), one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a group of processing components that may bedistributed over various geographic locations or housed in a singlelocation, or other suitable electronic processing components. The one ormore memory devices 203 (e.g., RAM, NVRAM, ROM, Flash Memory, hard diskstorage, etc.) may store data and/or computer code for facilitating thevarious processes described herein. Moreover, the one or more memorydevices 203 may be or include tangible, non-transient volatile memory ornon-volatile memory. Accordingly, the one or more memory devices 203 mayinclude database components, object code components, script components,or any other type of information structure for supporting the variousactivities and information structures described herein.

The user device 110 is shown to include various circuits and logic. Moreparticularly, the user device 110 includes input/output logic 204, anetwork interface 210, a location circuit 212, and the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit client application 162.

The network interface 210 is adapted for and structured to establish acommunication session via the network 102 with at least one of theinsurance company computing system 132, the lending institutioncomputing system 142, and the financial institution computing system152. Accordingly, the network interface 210 includes any of a cellulartransceiver (e.g., CDMA, GSM, LTE, etc.), a wireless network transceiver(e.g., 802.11X, ZigBee, Bluetooth, etc.), a wired transceiver, and/or acombination thereof (e.g., both a cellular transceiver and a Bluetoothtransceiver). Further, the network interface 210 may includecryptography capabilities to establish a secure or relatively securecommunication session with the at least one of the components of FIG. 1. In this regard, data may be encrypted to prevent or substantiallyprevent the threat of hacking.

The input/output logic 204 may be structured to receive and providecommunication(s) to a user of the device 110. In this regard, theinput/output logic 204 may be structured to exchange data,communications, instructions, etc. with an input/output component of thedevice 110. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the input/output logic 204may include an input/output device such as a display device, atouchscreen, a keyboard, a speaker, a camera, and a microphone. Inanother embodiment, the input/output logic 204 may include communicationcircuitry for facilitating the exchange of data, values, messages, andthe like between an input/output device and the components of the userdevice 110 (e.g., the multiple party insurance claim processing circuitclient application 162). In yet another embodiment, the input/outputlogic 204 may include machine-readable media for facilitating theexchange of information between the input/output device and thecomponents of the user device 110. In still another embodiment, theinput/output logic 204 may include any combination of hardwarecomponents (e.g., a touchscreen), communication circuitry, andmachine-readable media.

The location circuit 212 may be structured to receive location data anddetermine a location of the user device 110 based on the location data.In one embodiment, the location circuit 212 may include a globalpositioning system (GPS) or any other type of location positioningsystem. As such, the location circuit 212 may receive latitude data,longitude data, and any other type of location or position data todetermine the location of the user device 110. In other embodiments, thelocation circuit 212 may receive an explicit location identificationfrom the user of the device 110. All such variations are intended tofall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

As mentioned above, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit client application 162 may be communicably coupled to thecomponents of the user device 110 and to the multiple party insuranceclaim processing circuit 160. Thus, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may control various activities, capabilities, andfunctions of the user device 110 via the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit client application 162. Further and as describedherein, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit clientapplication 162 may provide one or more GUIs that enable the exchange ofinformation with a user of the user device 110 and the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160.

With the above in mind, an example structure for the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 is shown in FIG. 3 . The multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit 160 is shown to include a claimpayment circuit 302, an authorization circuit 304, a disposition circuit306, a funds transfer circuit 308, and a communication circuit 310. Thecircuits 302-310 are structured to enable relatively fast processing ofmulti-party insurance payment checks, along with various othercapabilities described herein. While various circuits, interfaces, andlogic with particular functionality are shown in FIG. 3 , it should beunderstood that the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit160 may include any number of circuits, interfaces, and logic forcompleting the functions described herein. For example, the activitiesof multiple circuits may be combined as a single circuit, as additionalcircuits with additional functionality may be included, etc.

The claim payment circuit 302 is structured to receive an insuranceclaim payment (also referred to herein as an insurance claim paymentrequest or an insurance claim payment message). The “insurance claimpayment request” refers to an insurance claim that the insurance company130 has agreed to pay and any accompanying claim-related information. Inthis regard, the insurance claim payment request may be thought of as arequest to authorize/enable payment of the insurance claim to theinsured (because, as described above, the circuit 160 may have authorityfrom the lending institution—i.e., the other designated party on amulti-party check—to endorse or authorize endorsement of the multi-partycheck). Accordingly, the “insurance claim payment” may include a messageindicating an approved claim request, an approved claim amount,information relating to the check (if one is issued), and anidentification of the parties to receive the approved claim amount. Moreparticularly, the insurance claim payment request may refer collectivelyto information regarding an issued check to the insured (e.g., amulti-party check, which is described below) and any additionalclaim-related information. Additional claim-related information mayinclude, but is not limited to, an insurance policy number, an insuranceclaim number, an insured's property address, a date the loss occurred,multiple addresses if multiple addresses were affected, a cause of lossdescription, a payment request reason (e.g., loss payment, recoverabledepreciation, emergency funds, supplemental payment, etc.), anadjuster's worksheet, a name of user (i.e., the insured or borrower), anemail address of the user, a phone number of the user and a phone numbertype (e.g., work, cell, etc.), an identification of the mortgagor of theproperty, a position of the mortgage (e.g., 1 for first mortgage, 2 forsecond mortgage, etc.), a mortgage loan number, etc.

The insurance claim payment request may be received in an electronicformat or via a physical check (e.g., money order, cashier's check,etc.), which may also be received in an electronic format; however, thedifference between these two scenarios is that the electronic insurancepayment request (i.e., electronic format) is done without creating aphysical check. Accordingly, reception of the electronic insurancepayment request may be described as follows. In this configuration, aninsured or insurance company agent may submit a claim via the claimprocessing circuit 134 (in this regard, the circuit 134 may provide aGUI that enables claim reception). Submission of the claim may includeaccompanying photos, identification information of the insured, time ofthe incident, location of the incident, whether any other parties wereinvolved and an identification of those parties, a narrative regardingthe incident, etc. The claim processing circuit 134 may evaluate theclaim directly or provide the received claim to a representative (e.g.,an insurance company agent). Upon a review of the claim, a decision maybe made whether to payout the claim. Rather than providing the insuredwith a check directly, the claim processing circuit 134 may provide anelectronic message over the network 102 (i.e., an electronic insuranceclaim payment message). In one embodiment, the electronic message is anelectronic deposit that indicates the insured as the receiving partyalong with at least some of the aforementioned claim-related information(e.g., the claim amount, date of incident, etc.).

In another embodiment and as mentioned above, the insurance claimpayment is received via a physical check (which may also be receivedelectronically, but here, as mentioned above, this scenario ischaracterized by the actual issuance of a check by the insurancecompany). According to the present disclosure, the physical check may bea multi-party check. The “multi-party check” may indicate the insuredand at least one other party as the recipient of the check; hence, a“multi-party” check. More particularly, the multi-party check may be aphysical check made out to the insured party and the lending party,which as described above may be the lending institution 140.

In one example implementation, the user device 110 may include a cameradevice or another scanning tool capable of obtaining an image of themulti-party check. In particular and according to one embodiment, theclaim payment circuit 302, via the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit client application 162, may take a picture or imageof the multi-party check and tag or otherwise assign a unique identifierto the picture or pictures. The tag may be a numeric, alpha-numeric, oranother type of identifier of the picture or pictures. Further, the tagmay be generated by the claim payment circuit 302. If the picture isaltered in any way from the original image, the tag may be changed(e.g., removed, altered, etc.). At which point, the disposition circuit306 (described below) may unfavorably evaluate the insurance claimpayment. In another configuration, the claim payment circuit 302 mayonly receive an image from the user device when the camera or scan toolis accessed via the multiple party insurance claim processing circuitclient application 162. As an example, a user may select an iconassociated with the multiple party insurance claim processing circuitclient application 162, select an obtain image icon, which then launchesthe camera application from within the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit client application 162. Such a configuration avoidsusing the camera directly; rather, the camera is operated under thecontrol of the claim payment circuit 302 via the client application 162.In either configuration—tagging or using the camera under the control ofthe multiple party insurance claim processing circuit client application162—the claim payment circuit 302 is implementing an additional securitylayer or protocol to reduce or substantially reduce the likelihood offraudulent activity to alter the multi-party check (to, e.g., change theamount).

As alluded to above and in another example implementation, an image ofthe multi-party check may be sent from the insurance company 130 to theclaim payment circuit 302 directly. As mentioned above, the user 101 maybe a representative of the insurance company 130. Thus, in thisconfiguration, the insurance claim payment may be received directly fromthe insurance company as opposed to the insured as described in theprevious paragraph. However and like described above, the same orsimilar types of security protocols may be implemented to reduce alikelihood of fraudulent activity.

In either instance and according to one configuration, the multi-partycheck may include embedded information. In this regard, the multi-partycheck may still convey the additional claim-related information, asdescribed above. For example, in one configuration, the multi-partycheck may include a bar code. The bar code may be scanned or otherwiseread via a camera and barcode reader logic included with the user device110, whereby the barcode contains the or at least some of theaforementioned claim-related information.

Beneficially and in either of the aforementioned arrangements where theinsurance payment claim is received from insurance company 130 or theuser 101 (based on issuance of a physical check), these arrangementsallow for initializing the claim payment process remotely (i.e., wherethe user 101 or insured is away from a physical location of the lenderto obtain an endorsement from a representative of the lender or fromhaving to mail the multi-party check to a specified location for arepresentative of the lender (i.e., lending institution 140) to endorsethe multi-party check). It should be understood that in each situation,the insured or insurance company may have an option to physically inputadditional claim related information rather than or in addition to usingan automatic mechanism (e.g., embedded information in a physical check).For example, the claim payment circuit 302 may provide a GUI via themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit client application 162on the user device 110 that includes several fields for the submittingparty (e.g., the insurance company or the insured) to provide theadditional claim-related information (see FIG. 4 for an example GUI).

In some situations, the user 101 or insured may visit a locationassociated with the lending institution 140 (e.g., a branch location).In this regard, the user 101 may present the multi-party check to arepresentative at the location associated with the lending institution140. The representative may enter information contained on themulti-party check (i.e., recipient parties, routing number, etc.) andany claim related information into a GUI generated and provided by themultiple party insurance claims processing circuit client application162. In this instance and as mentioned above, the user device 110 may bea mobile device operated by the representative of the lendinginstitution.

Thus, the claim payment circuit 302 may receive the insurance claimpayment message in at least two ways: i) electronically (e.g., via anelectronic deposit); or, ii) electronically, but based on the issuanceof a physical check (e.g., via scanning and sending). In each instance,the claim payment circuit 302 receives an indication that the insurancecompany 130 has agreed to pay a claim, the amount agreed to pay and therecipients of the amount, and any other accompanying claim-relatedinformation that is described above.

Upon receiving the insurance claim payment message, the authorizationcircuit 304 is structured to identify the insured and generate andprovide an authorization request to the insured based on theidentification. This authorization may be beneficial due to providing anadditional layer of security before releasing/disbursing the insuranceclaim payment amount to the insured. Of course, in other configurations,this authorization may be excluded/de-activated.

Identification of the insured by the authorization circuit 304 may bedescribed as follows. Upon receipt of the insurance payment claimmessage and any accompanying claim-related information, theauthorization circuit 304 may query the accounts database 146 for amatch. If a match is found or identified, the authorization circuit 304may then look-up or otherwise obtain the user's contact informationstored within the database 146 (rather than solely relying on thecontact information that may be included in the insurance payment claimmessage). If a match is not identified, the authorization circuit 304may generate and transmit a notification via the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit client application 162 to inform thesubmitting party that no records have been found and to re-check theprovided information.

If a match is identified, the generated and provided authorizationrequest may take a variety of forms. In this regard, the authorizationrequest may include, but is not limited to, an email, a text message, aphone call, a push notification, etc. In one embodiment, theauthorization circuit 302 only uses the contact information associatedwith the insured stored in the accounts database 146. In anotherembodiment, the authorization request uses contact information containedin the insurance claim payment message.

In addition to the form, the provided authorization request may alsoinclude an indication of how to respond. For example, the authorizationrequest may notify the user to please submit biometric information(e.g., a fingerprint). As another example, the authorization request maynotify the user to please submit a provided passcode that is includedwith the authorization request (e.g., a password, a numeric value, analphanumeric value, etc.). Submission of the response to theauthorization request may be via the GUI of the multiple party insuranceclaim processing circuit client application 162. Beneficially, thisensures or substantially ensures that the response may be securelyprovided to the authorization circuit 304.

Based on the foregoing, an example may be described as follows. Theauthorization circuit 304 identifies the insured and provides a textmessage with a passcode to the insured using the contact information(e.g., phone number) stored in the accounts database 146. The insuredreceives the text message, selects an icon to launch the GUI provided bythe multiple party insurance claim client application 162, and selects afield to insert the passcode. The user may then submit this information,which is transmitted back to the authorization circuit 304 to confirm.

In certain instances, at least one of the required response and providedauthorization request may be based on a characteristic of the insuranceclaim payment message. In one embodiment, the characteristic is paymentamount. As an example, relatively high payment amounts (e.g., greaterthan a threshold amount, such as $25,000) may require a relatively moresecure response information (e.g., biometric information) thanrelatively low payment amounts (e.g., at or below $25,000). As anexample use case, if the amount is above a threshold of $25,000, theauthorization request may be provided via a telephone call (e.g., arobo-call that says to the party to provide biometric information).Thus, in one instance, for relatively high insurance claim paymentamounts (e.g., above a threshold, such as $25,000), biometricinformation may be required as the authorization response. As anotherexample, if the amount is below a low amount threshold (e.g., below$500), the authorization circuit 304 may not be activated. In thisregard, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 maysimply assume the identity of the insured to be authorized. Of course,the high and low amount thresholds are highly configurable and maychange from application-to-application. In another embodiment, thecharacteristic may be the type of property that is the subject of theinsurance payment claim request. For example, for relatively highervalued property (e.g., a commercial building versus a motorcycle),relatively more stringent authorization responses may be required (e.g.,biometric information versus a passcode). It should be understood thatthe aforementioned characteristics used to define the authorizationrequest and response are not meant to be exhaustive as the presentdisclosure contemplates a wide variety of factors upon which theauthorization circuit 304 may use to generate an authorization requestand determine the desired response.

In certain examples, a time duration may be implemented with theauthorization request that defines how long the insured has to respondbefore or until the authorization circuit 304 considers the insurancepayment claim message void or expired. For example, the authorizationcircuit 304 may allot 30 minutes before considering the insurancepayment claim message expired. This is advantageous in order to ensureinsurance payment claim messages do not exist indefinitely. Further,such a feature may reduce memory requirements to improve performance ofthe multiple party claim processing circuit 160 overall.

Assuming the identity of the insured has been verified (assuming thisidentification process portion is implemented), the disposition circuit306 is structured to receive and evaluate the insurance claim paymentmessage. In response to the evaluation, the disposition circuit 306 maybe structured to provide a final disposition message, which indicateswhen and how much of the claim amount is authorized for disbursement tothe insured. The evaluation may be used to determine whether the full ora partial amount of the claim payment is provided to or facilitated tobe provided to the user. In one embodiment, the evaluation is performedin real-time or substantially real-time. Beneficially, real-timeprocessing enables the payment or a portion thereof to beaccomplished/achieved relatively quickly. In one embodiment and in thiscontext, “relatively quickly” means on the same day that the insurancepayment claim message is received. This is advantageous because typicaltwo-party check situations today may take several days or longer beforethe check is able to be cashed by the insured. As mentioned above, thedisposition circuit 306 may include authority to evaluate and make afinal disposition regarding the claim (e.g., pay it out, pay it outpartially) because the disposition circuit 306 is operated under theauthority of the lending institution 140, which may be a designatedparty on the multi-party check. In other configurations where themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 is not operatedunder the authority of the other party designated on the two-partycheck, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 mayserve as conduit to send and receive messages from the designated party(i.e., lending institution 140) to in turn enable disbursement, at leastpartially, of the claim amount.

The disposition circuit 306 may utilize a variety of factors to evaluatethe insurance claim payment request. Thus, the disposition circuit 306may include one or more algorithms, processes, formulas, and the likethat guide the evaluation process. For example, in one embodiment, thedisposition circuit 306 evaluates the insurance claim payment requestsolely on information regarding the insured stored in the accountsdatabase 146 (i.e., not included in the insurance claim paymentmessage). In this regard, the disposition circuit 306 may examinevarious information to determine if there has been or potentially hasbeen fraudulent activity associated with the insured (e.g., instances ofwhere the insured lied). If yes, the disposition circuit 306 maywithhold or only release a partial amount of the full claim amount. Asanother example, the disposition circuit 306 may evaluate the insuranceclaim payment based on information solely contained the insurance claimpayment message. In one example embodiment, the disposition circuit 306may examine the information for correctness to, e.g., make sureinformation provided appears right (e.g., the date of the incident mayhave been incorrectly entered as a future date). If one or more piecesof information appears incorrect, the disposition circuit 306 may causea message to be provided to the user (or submitting party), may cause afinal disposition that withholds an amount of the payment amount, and/ora combination thereof. As still another example, the disposition circuit306 may evaluate the claim based solely on or substantially solely onthe insurance claim payment amount. Thus, those of ordinary skill in theart will appreciate the wide range of factors that may be used by thedisposition circuit 306 to evaluate the insurance claim payment message.

As mentioned above and upon evaluation, the disposition circuit 306 mayprovide a final disposition message to at least one of the insurancecompany 130 and the user (via the communication circuit 310). The finaldisposition message is a notification that informs whether the insuranceclaim payment is authorized to be paid or if more information is needed,how much of the claim payment amount is authorized to be paid, whenpayment of the claim is likely, and any other accompanying information.When provided to the insurance company 130, the final dispositionmessage may include, but is not limited to, an insurance policy number,an insurance claim number, an indication of the mortgagors of property,a name of the mortgage company, a mortgage loan number, an indication ofthe actual final disposition, a date of the final disposition, adescription of the final disposition, a confirmation number, etc. In oneembodiment and with respect to the client application 162, receipt ofthe final disposition message by the client application 162 may activatea GUI provided by the client application 162 to display the finaldisposition message. In this regard, there may be security protocol orother barriers that prevent the insured from accessing/viewing the finaldisposition message. For example, an icon on the GUI may be a selectablelink that takes the insured to the message; however, the icon is grayedout/unable to be selected until the final disposition message isreceived by the client application 162. In this regard, the finaldisposition message may include an affirmative approval to the clientapplication 162 to enable showing the message or parts thereof to theinsured via the GUI.

As mentioned above, in some instances, a portion of the claim paymentamount may be withheld as detailed in the final disposition message bythe disposition circuit 306. Withholding of the funds may be due to avariety of factors. For example, one factor may be an evaluation of theinsured. If the disposition circuit 306 determines that there isfraudulent activity associated with the insured, then the dispositioncircuit 306 may withhold a portion of the funds (e.g., 25% of the totalclaim amount is withheld). The withheld portion may be a predefinedvalue.

In one embodiment, the disposition circuit 306 is structured to withholda portion of the claim amount based on the amount of the claim. In thisregard, the disposition circuit 306 may utilize a withhold threshold. Inone example, the withhold threshold is $25,000. If the claim amount is$25,000 or below, the final disposition message provided by thedisposition circuit 306 is that none of the claim amount is beingwithheld. However, if the claim amount is greater than $25,000, then thefinal disposition message provided by the disposition circuit 306 may bethat a predefined percentage is being withheld. The predefinedpercentage may be a set number (e.g., 5%), variable based on the amount(e.g., 5% if the amount is between $25,001 and $30,000 and 3% if greaterthan $30,001, etc.), or another factor.

Of course, the amount withheld, when an amount is withheld, and factorsused to determine the amount withheld are highly configurable and mayvary from application-to-application. The aforementioned paragraphs areintended to show only a few examples and not be exhaustive. In thisregard, the present disclosure contemplates many different types offactors that may be used to determine the amount withheld and when theamount is withheld, with all such possibilities intended to fall withinthe scope of the present disclosure.

In one embodiment and in regard to the remaining amount of the insuranceclaim payment amount, the disposition circuit 306 may allow theremaining amount or a portion of the remaining amount of the claimamount to be disbursed based on receiving one or more work progressionvalues (also referred to herein as a work progression indicator, a workprogress value or indicator, and a status indicator). The workprogression value refers to an indication of repair work beingperformed, has been performed, or will be performed based on theinsurance claim. Accordingly, the work progression value may include atleast one of a quote regarding a to-be-performed service, an update ofwork being performed, and an invoice regarding work performed. In thisregard and in many situations, property damage associated with aninsurance claim requires ongoing work. In an effort to reduce fraudulentactivity, the disposition circuit 306 may be structured to withhold aportion of the claim amount until at least one of the aforementionedwork progression values are received. In one embodiment, the dispositioncircuit 306 may require the aforementioned work progression indicatorsto be received directly from the personnel doing or will-be-doing thework (i.e., a contractor). In this situation, the relevant personnel maydownload the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit clientapplication 162 to his/her mobile device and along with providingidentifying information regarding themselves and the associatedinsurance claim, the relevant personnel may upload the relevant workprogress indicator: a copy of the quote provided, a bill for services, apicture showing the work being performed, etc. In this regard, adifferent GUI may be provided by the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit client application 162 for the contractor than forthe user or insured. Nonetheless, by requiring a work progressionindicator to be provided directly from the relevant personnel, thedisposition circuit 306 may further avoid fraudulent activity beinginstituted by the insured (e.g., changing a quote amount). Further, thework progress indicator may ensure or substantially ensure that thework, which the claim payment is meant for, is actually being used forthat work. In some situations, various confirmation processes may beincluded to confirm the identity of the person or entity providing thework progression indicator (e.g., that he/she is a contractor). Inanother embodiment, the work progression indicator may be received fromthe insured (e.g., via the GUI provided by the multiple party insuranceclaim processing circuit client application 162). In yet anotherembodiment, the work progression indicator may be received from either acontractor or other party doing the work or the insured. The demarcationof who is authorized to provide the work progression indicator may behighly configurable and change from application-to-application.

In one embodiment, the disposition circuit 306 may, via the clientapplication 162, enable the insured or relevant personnel to obtainphotos of the work being performed (i.e., the work progression value).However, the disposition circuit 306 may also command the locationcircuit of the user device to tag the photos with the approximategeographic location (e.g., latitude and longitude data). In this regard,the tagged location (i.e., the latitude and longitude data) may be usedby the disposition circuit 306 to compare against the location ofprovided in the insurance claim payment message. If there is adiscrepancy or substantial difference, the disposition circuit 306 maynot release the remaining funds or a portion thereof. Accordingly, usinglocation services may add an additional layer of security.

Upon receipt of the work progression indicator, the disbursement circuit306 approves releasing of the funds remaining from the insurance claimpayment message. In one embodiment, the released funds match the amountdesignated in the work progression indicator. For example, if a quote isfor $5000, then the released funds are $5000 (assuming that theremaining portion is equal to or exceeding the quote). In an alternateembodiment, the disposition circuit 306 releases a percentage of thefunds designated in the work progression indicator.

In other circumstances, the work progression indicator may not include adesignated amount. For example, the work progression indicator may onlyinclude a picture or photograph of the repair work being performed onthe damaged property. In this situation, the disposition circuit 306 maygradually release the funds in response to receiving these photographs.The funds may be released periodically (e.g., daily, weekly, etc.) andin equal or non-equal disbursements.

In this regard, the funds transfer circuit 308 is structured tofacilitate or cause the disbursement of the insurance claim paymentamount (or a partial amount) based on the final disposition message fromthe disposition circuit 306. For example, the funds transfer circuit 308may provide a notification to the sending bank (i.e., the bank sendingthe funds on behalf of the insurance company 130) that the funds areapproved for disbursement. In another example and when the multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit 160 is a part of the sendingfinancial institution, the funds transfer circuit 308 may directly causethe transfer to occur. In one embodiment, the funds transfer circuit 308facilitates an electronic deposit. For example, during authorization ofthe insured, the insured may also provide a token. The token (e.g.,email address, phone number, etc.) may be used to identity theperson/entity to allow an electronic transfer. In other situations, theelectronic transfer may include, but is not limited to, an ACH transfer,a wire transfer, etc. According to another embodiment, the fundstransfer circuit 308 causes the creation of a check to be created andsent to the insured. In this instance, the check is only made out to theinsured and is not a two-party check. Thus, those of ordinary skill inthe art will appreciate the wide variety of funds transfer that arecapable by the funds transfer circuit 308.

In the example of when funds are withheld, the funds transfer circuit308 may be structured to create an escrow account. For example, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 may authorize thefull claim amount to be disbursed; however, only a partial amount ofthat full amount is then authorized to go to the insured. In this case,the funds transfer circuit 308 may create an escrow account that holdsthe remaining funds amount. In this example, the funds transfer circuit308 may include an accounts database (like the accounts database 146)for creation, recordkeeping, and searching for all the escrow accountscreated/managed by the funds transfer circuit 308.

The communication circuit 310 may be structured to communicate with oneor more devices. The communication circuit 310 may be unnecessary inthis configuration due to the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit 160 being implemented with the lending institution computingsystem 142, such that the communication capabilities are providedtherewith via the network interface 145. However, in other embodiments(e.g., when the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 isa standalone system), the communication circuit 310 may enable thecommunicable coupling with the user device 110, insurance companycomputing system 132, lending institution computing system 142,financial institution computing system 152, and any other relevantdevices over the network 102. Thus, in this configuration, thecommunication circuit 310 may include any type communication circuitryincluding, but not limited to, any of a cellular transceiver (e.g.,CDMA, GSM, LTE, etc.), a wireless network transceiver (e.g., 802.11X,ZigBee, Bluetooth, etc.), a wired transceiver, and/or a combinationthereof (e.g., both a cellular transceiver and a Bluetooth transceiver).Further, the communication circuit 310 may include cryptography orencryption functionalities that may be used to secure or relativelysecure a communication channel between or among the communicatingdevices.

Upon facilitating full or partial disbursement of the claim amount, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 may receive aconfirmation message. When the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit 160 is a separate component from the other components (e.g., thelending institution 140), the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit 160 may provide, via the communication circuit 310, aconfirmation to those components to close the loop on this insuranceclaim. Information included in the confirmation message may include, butis not limited to, an insurance policy number, an insurance claimnumber, a confirmation number from the lending institution, a name ofthe user/insured, an indication of an amount of payment made, anindication of the payment type (e.g., check, electronic transfer, etc.),a date the payment was sent, and the like.

As mentioned above, the multiple party insurance claim processingcircuit client application 162 may provide a GUI, which is supported orprovided, at least in part, by the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160. Accordingly, referring now to FIG. 4 , anexample graphical user interface provided by the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit is depicted, according to an exampleembodiment. As shown, the GUI 400 is provided on the user device 110.While many fields/options are possible of being shown, the GUI 400 isshown to include a name field 402, a claim amount field 404, a claimdate field 406, a description of the claim field 408, an authorizationresponse field 410, an upload photos for claim button 412, an uploadphotos for repair work button 414, and a submit button 416. Fields402-408 and 412 represent claim-related information fields, field 410represents the optional identity verification field (as describedabove), while button 414 represents a button useable in facilitatepartial disbursements. In other configurations, more, less, and/ordifferent buttons and editable fields may be used. Further, additionalscreens may also be provided. Thus, FIG. 4 is only intended to show oneexample implementation and not meant to be limiting as many otherexample implementations are possible.

Based on the foregoing, an example use case with a physical multi-partycheck may be described as follows. A tornado causes damage to aninsured's home. The insured contacts their insurance company, who sendsan agent to assess the damage. The agent approves the claim on the spotand provides the insured with a multi-party check designating theinsured and the insured's mortgage company as the recipient. The insuredtakes the check to their bank. At the bank, the banker accesses themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit client application 162and enters information regarding the claim and the claim amount. Theclient application 162 provides the information to the circuit 160. Inone embodiment, the circuit 160 identifies the insured and sends anauthorization request. In another embodiment, the circuit 160 does notsend an authorization request. Upon receiving a response to theauthorization request (if sent) or concurrently, the circuit 160evaluates the claim and makes a final disposition. The final dispositionindicates whether the full or partial amount is allowed to be released.The final disposition may be provided to the client application 162 inreal-time or in a short time frame from being submitted by the banker(e.g., within a day), such that the insured may gain access to the fundsvery quickly, which is in contrast to a typical process that currentlyexists.

Another example use case is using an electronic deposit, as compared toa physical check. In this case, the insurance agent may send theelectronic deposit directly to the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 (e.g., via a GUI provided by the clientapplication 162). Thus, and in contrast to typical operation, atwo-party check is not needed or used. Upon reception of the electronicdeposit, processing may be analogous to that described above.

Accordingly and based on the above, four general scenarios exist. First,a multi-party check may be issued and presented or provided to themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160, wherein thecircuit 160 facilitates a full disbursement of the designated claimamount. Second, a multi-party check may be issued and presented orprovided to the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160,wherein the circuit 160 facilitates a partial disbursement of thedesignated claim amount. These scenarios correspond with the insurancecompany 130 creating a multi-party check to pay a claim as opposed to anelectronic transfer (e.g., electronic deposit). Third, the multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit 160 may receive an electronicdeposit for an insurance claim, wherein the circuit 160 facilitates afull disbursement of the designated claim amount. Fourth, the multipleparty insurance claim processing circuit 160 may receive an electronicdeposit for an insurance claim, wherein the circuit 160 facilitates apartial disbursement of the designated claim amount. These latterscenarios correspond with an electronic insurance payment claim process,which beneficially may exclude the use of a two-party check. This is incontrast to the current handling of the situation where an insured, whohas a loan on an object, makes an insurance claim regarding the objectand the insurance company by default issues a two-party check to thelender and the insured. Explanation of these scenarios may be furtherexplained with regard to FIGS. 5A-6B, whereby method 500 of FIG. 5Arepresents the first scenario, method 550 of FIG. 5B represents thesecond scenario, method 600 of FIG. 6A represents the third scenario,and method 650 of FIG. 6B represents the fourth scenario.

Because methods 500, 550, 600, and 650 may be implemented by themultiple party insurance claim processing claim circuit 160, referencemay be to the circuit 160 to aid explanation of the methods 500, 550,600 and 650.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 5A-5B, a flow diagram of a method ofdisbursing a full insurance claim amount (method 500 of FIG. 5A) and apartial insurance claim amount (method 550 of FIG. 5B) is shown,according to an example embodiment. Because methods 500 and 550 aresubstantially similar, the first steps are described collectively.Methods 500 and 550 are characterized by the insurance company providingthe insured with a physical multi-party check. Accordingly, pre-cursorsto the first processes of methods 500 and 550 are the insurance companyagent analyzing a claim, approving the claim, determining an amount topayout the claim, creating/writing out the multi-party check, and givingthe multi-party check to the insured (i.e. user 101). In the exampledescribed below, the multi-party check designates the insured and thelending institution as the recipients of the claim payment amount.

Based on the foregoing, at processes 502 and 552, an insurance claimpayment request is received. As mentioned above, the insurance claimpayment request refers to an authorization to pay the claim and mayinclude information relating to the multi-party check itself as well asany claim-related information. In this example, a representative of abanking entity (e.g., financial institution 150) may be operating themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit client application 162provided by the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160.In this example, the banking entity representative cannot endorse themulti-party check to enable the claim payment amount to be disbursed tothe insured. However, even in the situation where a representative ofthe lending entity was entering information regarding the multi-partycheck (i.e., processes 502 and 552), the lending institutionrepresentative may not be authorized to endorse the check. Accordingly,in each situation, processing of the claim can take a considerableamount of time before money is actually disbursed to the insured. Incontrast, via the client application 162, the representative may enterinformation regarding the multi-party check itself as well as anyclaim-related information, which are both described herein above. Thisinformation is received then directly by the multiple party insuranceclaim processing circuit 160. Using the information, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit identifies the insured and generatesand provides an authorization request to the claimant (processes 504 and554). At processes 506 and 556, an authorization response is received.As mentioned above, the authorization request may be used to confirm theidentity of the insured. Further, the authorization response may bedetermined based on one or more factors regarding the insurance claimpayment request (e.g., amount, factors regarding the insured, acombination, etc.). For example, if the amount is above a certain highamount threshold, the authorization request may inform the insured thathe/she must provide a biometric input. At processes 508 and 558, theidentity of the insured is confirmed based on the authorizationresponse. In regard to the aforementioned biometric example, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 maycross-reference the received biometric input (fingerprint) with thebiometric input stored in the accounts database 146 regarding theinsured to determine a match.

At processes 510 and 560, the insurance claim payment request isevaluated. As mentioned above, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may evaluate the insurance claim payment requestto determine whether the full amount is authorized to be disbursed, onlya partial amount is authorized to be disbursed, and whether additionalinformation is required for processing. Thus, evaluation may includeexamining whether any fraudulent activity is associated with theinsured. Evaluation may also include an analysis of the claim amountrelative to a withholding amount threshold (e.g., an amount above thewithhold amount threshold may be flagged for withholding at least somefunds, or may automatically result in the withholding of some funds,etc.).

At processes 512 and 562, a final disposition message is provided. Asmentioned above, the final disposition message refers to anauthorization to pay the full amount, a partial claim amount, or thatmore information is required. The final disposition message may beprovided by the circuit 160 to the client application 162 to display tothe, in this example, banker who is working with the insured. In anotherexample, the final disposition message may be provided to the user aswell. For example, using the user/insured's contact information, themessage may be provided via a text message, email message, phonemessage, etc.

At this point, processes 500 and 550 diverge. In regard to process 500,at process 514, the full claim amount is provided or facilitated to beprovided to the insured. In this regard, the client application 162based on an instruction from the circuit 160 may instruct the banker toinstruct the insured to sign the check. The banker may then take themulti-party check, credit the insured's account, and forward the checkto deposit processing. A confirmation may then be sent by the circuit160 to the insurance company and to the insured for recordkeeping (e.g.,an email message).

In comparison, at process 564, a partial claim amount is provided orfacilitated to be provided to the insured (e.g., by the funds transfercircuit 308). In this regard, the final disposition message may haveindicated that only a partial amount should be disbursed. As mentionedherein above, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160may utilize a variety of factors to control how much is withheld, whenthe withheld portion is released, and how much is released. For example,the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 may require anapproved personnel to submit one or more work progression values beforereleasing at least a portion of the withheld amount. In one embodiment,the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 may create anescrow account that holds or otherwise stores the withheld amount.Nonetheless and like in process 514, the client application 162, basedon an instruction from the circuit 160, may instruct the banker toinstruct the insured to sign the check. The banker may then take themulti-party check, credit the insured's accounts, and forward the checkto deposit processing. A confirmation may then be sent by the circuit160 to the insurance company and to the insured for recordkeeping (e.g.,an email message).

Referring now FIGS. 6A-6B, a flow diagram of methods of disbursing afull insurance claim amount (method 600 of FIG. 6A) and a partialinsurance claim amount (method 650 of FIG. 6B) based on receiving anelectronic claim submission are shown, according to an exampleembodiment. Because methods 600 and 650 are substantially similar, thefirst steps are described collectively. Methods 600 and 650 arecharacterized by the insurance company providing an electronic insuranceclaim payment message directly to the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 (e.g., via the client application 162). Thus, inthis instance, the use and providing of a physical multi-party check isavoided/unneeded. Accordingly, pre-cursors to the first processes ofmethods 600 and 650 are the insurance company agent analyzing a claim,approving the claim, and determining an amount to payout the claim.

At processes 602 and 652, an electronic insurance claim payment messageis received. The electronic payment message may indicate that theinsurance company has agreed to pay out the claim, the amount agreed topay (i.e., the claim amount), and any other information regarding theclaim. To enable a complete or near complete electronic claim process,the electronic insurance claim payment message may also include paymentinformation regarding the insured. For example, payment information mayinclude a payment token, whereby the payment token may be used toidentify and transfer funds to the insured (e.g., via CLEARXCHANGE,ZELLE, etc.). As another example, payment information may include anaccount number and/or routing number that indicates the receivingaccount for funds.

Using the information contained in the electronic insurance claimpayment message, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuitidentifies the insured, generates, and provides an authorization requestto the insured (processes 604 and 654). At processes 606 and 656, anauthorization response is received. At processes 608 and 658, theidentity of the insured is confirmed based on the authorizationresponse. These processes may be analogous to, e.g., processes 504, 506,and 508 described herein. It should be understood that these processesare optional in each of methods 600 and 650. Thus, in certainembodiments, processes 604, 606, and 608 (and processes 654, 656, and658) may be excluded. Exclusion of these processes may facilitate evenfaster dispersal of the claim amount or a portion thereof to theinsured. Determination of when these processes are included or excludedis highly configurable. In one configuration, these processes areincluded if the claim amount is above a threshold value (e.g., $25,000).If the claim amount is below the threshold value and to facilitate fastprocessing, these processes may be excluded.

At processes 610 and 660, the electronic insurance claim payment isevaluated. As mentioned above, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may evaluate the claim to determine whether thefull amount is authorized to be disbursed, only a partial amount isauthorized to be disbursed, and whether additional information isrequired for processing. At processes 612 and 662, a final dispositionmessage is provided. As mentioned above, the final disposition messagerefers to an authorization to pay the full amount, a partial claimamount, or that more information is required. Process 610, 612, 660, and662 may be analogous to processes 510, 512, 550 and 552.

At this point, processes 600 and 650 diverge. In regard to process 600,at process 614, the full claim amount is provided or facilitated to beprovided to the insured (e.g., by the funds transfer circuit 308)However and relative to process 500, here, the payment informationprovided in process 602 and 652 may be used to facilitate an electronicdispersal of funds to the insured. For example, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 may facilitate a funds transferusing the payment token. The electronic fund transfer may also includean ACH transfer, a wire transfer, and any other type of electronic fundtransfer. In an alternate embodiment, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may cause the creation of a physical check to becreated and sent to the insured. For example, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 may instruct the financialinstitution 150 (or source banking entity for the insurance company 130)to create and send a check to the insured.

In comparison, at process 664, a partial claim amount is provided orfacilitated to be provided to the insured. In this regard, the finaldisposition message may have indicated that only a partial amount shouldbe disbursed. As mentioned herein above, the multiple party insuranceclaim processing circuit 160 may utilize a variety of factors to controlhow much is withheld, when the withheld portion is released, and howmuch is released. For example, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may require approved personnel to submit one ormore work progression values before releasing at least a portion of thewithheld amount (e.g., provide a quote, a bill for services, etc.).Thus, process 664 may enable the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 to monitor work or repairs being done/performedon the insured object. In one embodiment and similar to process 554, themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 may create anescrow account that holds or otherwise stores the withheld amount. Aconfirmation message may then be sent by the circuit 160 to theinsurance company and to the insured for recordkeeping (e.g., an emailmessage). Similar to process 614, the funds may be disbursed or causedto be disbursed electronically. For example, an ACH funds transferprocess, a wire transfer, and the like may be used to transfer funds tothe insured. Alternatively, a check may be caused to be created and sentto the insured.

In contrast to a typical two-party check situation, in regard to methods600 and 650, the two-party check is avoided entirely. Further, theinsured may not even need to travel to a physical location of theirbanking and/or lending entity. This may save time for the insured, whichin turn creates a more pleasant experience when processing insuranceclaim payouts.

Referring now to FIG. 7 , a flow diagram of processing multiple partyinsurance claim payout is shown, according to an example embodiment.Method 700 may be substantially similar to methods 500, 550, 600, and650 except that method 700 is more detailed and shows how each entitymay act/function during the processing of the multiple party insuranceclaim payout. Further, method 700 represents how the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 may function in practice wheneither a physical multi-party check or electronic insurance paymentrequest are utilized. In the example of method 700, the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160 is an intermediary to each of thelending institution (i.e., mortgage company), banking institution, andinsurance company. Further, in the example of FIG. 7 , the insuredobject is a home. However and as mentioned above, this depiction is notmeant to be limiting as the present disclosure is applicable with otherinsured objects (e.g., automobiles, etc.), whereby method 700 may beapplicable with those objects as well. With the above in mind, anexplanation of method 700 may be described as follows.

Before turning to the electronic insurance claim payment request processor the physical multi-party check insurance claim payment requestprocess of method 700 and before process 701, an incident occurred thatresults in property damage to the home. The home is owned by two owners:owner 1 and owner 1. As a result of the property damage, an insuranceagent visits the home to assess the damage and then submits a claim.Accordingly, at process 701, an insurance claim is analyzed. In theexample shown, an insurance claim processing application (e.g., providedby the claim processing circuit 134) is separate from the multiple partyinsurance claim processing circuit 160. Of course, in other embodiments,the circuit 160 may provide an SDK to integrate with the insuranceclaims processing application. After analysis of the insurance, theinsurance claims processing application may either provide or cause toprovide a multi-party check to the owners or an electronic depositrequest.

First, in regard to the multi-party check scenario, at process 702, themulti-party check is issued to the owners (i.e., owner 1 and owner 2).The owners take the check to the bank (704). The owners endorse thecheck in front of the banker (or another representative at thebank)(706). At this point, the insurance claim payment request isprovided to the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160(708). In this configuration, insurance claim payment request is enteredby the banker either into a banker platform claim processing application(which is a separate application relative to the client application162). However, in another example and as described herein, the bankermay utilize the client application 162 to GUI to enter the information.Before turning to the remaining processes as they similar to those ofthe electronic insurance payment request part of method 700, the initialsteps of the electronic insurance payment request process are firstlydescribed.

Accordingly, second, in regard to the electronic insurance paymentrequest and rather than issuing a physical multi-party check to theowners, the insurance claim processing application may provide theelectronic insurance payment request to the multiple party insuranceclaim processing circuit (process 720). As mentioned above, theelectronic insurance payment request may be a request to allow paymentof the insurance claim by authorizing the funds provided by theinsurance company to be released to the owners. In this regard, theelectronic insurance payment request may include insured/payeeinformation, mortgage claim data, and a customer token. The customertoken may be used to authenticate the owners and/or to enable anelectronic funds transfer to the owners.

In this example and because the owners are not physically present infront of the banker to perform various identification/verificationprocesses, at process 722, an authorization request is provided and anauthorization response is received. More particularly, here, thecustomer token may be used to authenticate the owners. Such a processacts as a safeguard when electronic payment requests are utilized.

At this point, each of the parts of method 700 may take a similar path.However, in this configuration, the multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 may be a separate entity relative to the mortgagecompany. As such, the circuit 160 may act as a conduit or intermediarybetween the components and may not evaluate any insurance claim paymentrequests or, in another configuration, may evaluate only some of theinsurance claim payment requests. For example, if the claim amount isless than $25,000 (an automatic processing threshold amount), then thecircuit 160 may be authorized to evaluate and process the claim.However, for claim amounts above this threshold, the mortgage companymay evaluate the claim.

Because the circuit 160 is not evaluating the insurance claim paymentrequest in this embodiment, at process 724, insurance claim payment datais provided to the mortgage company claims application. The mortgagecompany claims application may evaluate the claim (using the same orsimilar factors as described above with respect to the circuit 160) andthen provide a final disposition message, which is received by thecircuit 160 (726). Upon receiving the final disposition message, thecircuit 160 may facilitate funds disbursement (728). As shown, the fundstransfer may be an electronic funds transfer using the customer's token(e.g., wire funds transfer, etc.) or may be the creating and sending ofan actual check to the owners.

As shown and in one embodiment, only a partial amount of the claimamount may be disbursed. The remainder may be released as service/workis done to repair the damage to the home. Beneficially, this enablesmonitoring of the work progress to avoid or reduce the likelihood ofinsurance fraud. This is shown generally at process 730, where themortgage company (or mortgage company claims application) engages aservicer (e.g., contract) to perform repair work. In this regard and forlarge claims, the mortgage company may have a desire to monitor therepair work. Of course, in another embodiment, the owners may engage theservicer. In either configuration, work updates may be required to beprovided before a disposition message is provided (726) to disburse atleast a portion of the remaining funds to the owners. In some instances,the circuit 160 may also provide updates/notifications to the insurancecompany (e.g., via the insurance company claims processingapplication)(732).

Referring now to FIG. 8 , a flow diagram describing a method to payout amulti-party insurance claim electronically is shown, according to anexemplary embodiment. Flow diagram 800 depicts a scenario where twoparties (or more) may receive funds as part of a single insurance claimpayout. For example, consider a scenario in which a tornado causessignificant damage to a home that is owned by two different people. Themethod described below allows both home owners to receive theiragreed-to respective portion of the insurance claim payout for damagecaused by the tornado quickly and easily.

At process 802, an electronic claim payout is initiated. The payout maybe initiated by an insurance company or another company such as athird-party servicer. In one embodiment, multiple party insurance claimprocessing circuit 160 receives a payment request from insurance companycomputing system 132. A mobile, web-based, or other type of applicationthat may be owned by or associated with the insurance company or by athird party such as multiple party insurance claim processing circuitclient application 162 can be provided by circuit 160 to process theelectronic payout. Application 162 may be accessed via a variety of userdevices 110.

At process 804, a notification is provided. In particular, at process804, the multiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 notifiesthe parties involved in the claim after the payout process is initiated.The notification may be sent via e-mail, text message, pushnotification, or any other method of electronic communication. Referringback to the example above, both owners of the home damaged by thetornado receiving funds as part of the insurance claim payout canreceive a notification on one or more user devices 110.

At process 806, the first party may review the insurance claim payout.For example, one of the owners of the home damaged by the tornado mayaccess client application 162 on a user device 110 and accept the claimpayout and choose a deposit account, or propose a fund split that can besent to the second owner of the home. The client application 162 can beconfigured to provide an interface such as GUI 400 on a user device 110in order for the first party to review the claim payout. The informationentered or provided by the first party at process 806 may includeauthorization information such as a passcode or biometric informationthat may be generated and processed by a circuit such as authorizationcircuit 304. Such information may be cross-referenced by, e.g., themultiple party insurance claim processing circuit 160 to verify theidentity of the party. Beneficially, such a process may reduce the fraudrisk that an unauthorized user who is operating the user deviceassociated with the first party accepts or rejects the insurance claimpayout

At process 808, the second party may review the insurance claim payout.For example, the second owner of the home damaged by a tornado canaccess the client application 162 on a user device 110 to review theproposed fund split by the first owner and choose a deposit account fortheir portion of the fund split. The second owner can use a GUI 400 on auser device 110 to review the payout and submit authorizationinformation. As mentioned above, authorization information can begenerated and processed by an authorization circuit 804 and can includea passcode or biometric information. A similar process as described withthe first party may be utilized.

At process, the response to the fund split decision made by the secondparty is received. If the second owner of the home does not accept thefund split proposed by the first owner, for example, circuit 160 viaclient application 162 may notify the first owner and request a new fundsplit proposal. The first owner may again access client application 162with a user device 110 and use a GUI 400 to enter a new fund splitproposal. The payout process may not be completed until both partiesagree on a fund split.

Flow diagram 800 ends at process 812 when both parties agree to a fundsplit. In turn, the funds are deposited in their agreed-to amounts toeach designated deposit account of each party. Subsequently orconcurrently, a final disposition message may be sent via the circuit160 (e.g., to the parties, the insurance company, the servicer, etc.).As mentioned above, circuit 160 may include various circuits within suchas authorization circuit 304, disposition circuit 306, and fundstransfer circuit 308. In some embodiments, the payout may be dependenton a work progress indicator such as described above with respect toFIG. 3 . As an example, the two owners of a home damaged by a tornadocan agree to split the claim payout in half. After the split is agreedupon, an insurance company providing protection for the home can depositfunds into the accounts chosen by the homeowners. Once the depositoccurs, circuit 160 can send a final disposition message to theinsurance company.

It should be understood that while method 800 is primarily describedwith respect to two parties (i.e., the two home owners), thisdescription is not meant to be limiting. In other configurations,multiple parties (e.g., three, four, five, etc.) may be involved. Forexample, an insurance claim payout may be designated for four parties.In this case, a four-way agreed-to split may occur. Thus, those ofordinary skill in the art will readily recognize and appreciate the highconfigurability of this method without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure.

The embodiments described herein have been described with reference todrawings. The drawings illustrate certain details of specificembodiments that implement the systems, methods and programs describedherein. However, describing the embodiments with drawings should not beconstrued as imposing on the disclosure any limitations that may bepresent in the drawings.

It should be understood that no claim element herein is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element isexpressly recited using the phrase “means for.”

As used herein, the term “circuit” may include hardware structured toexecute the functions described herein. In some embodiments, eachrespective “circuit” may include machine-readable media for configuringthe hardware to execute the functions described herein. The circuit maybe embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but notlimited to, processing circuitry, network interfaces, peripheraldevices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc. In someembodiments, a circuit may take the form of one or more analog circuits,electronic circuits (e.g., integrated circuits (IC), discrete circuits,system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, etc.), telecommunication circuits,hybrid circuits, and any other type of “circuit.” In this regard, the“circuit” may include any type of component for accomplishing orfacilitating achievement of the operations described herein. Forexample, a circuit as described herein may include one or moretransistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR,etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors,diodes, wiring, and so on).

The “circuit” may also include one or more processors communicativelycoupled to one or more memory or memory devices. In this regard, the oneor more processors may execute instructions stored in the memory or mayexecute instructions otherwise accessible to the one or more processors.In some embodiments, the one or more processors may be embodied invarious ways. The one or more processors may be constructed in a mannersufficient to perform at least the operations described herein. In someembodiments, the one or more processors may be shared by multiplecircuits (e.g., circuit A and circuit B may comprise or otherwise sharethe same processor which, in some example embodiments, may executeinstructions stored, or otherwise accessed, via different areas ofmemory). Alternatively or additionally, the one or more processors maybe structured to perform or otherwise execute certain operationsindependent of one or more co-processors. In other example embodiments,two or more processors may be coupled via a bus to enable independent,parallel, pipelined, or multi-threaded instruction execution. Eachprocessor may be implemented as one or more general-purpose processors,application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmablegate arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other suitableelectronic data processing components structured to execute instructionsprovided by memory. The one or more processors may take the form of asingle core processor, multi-core processor (e.g., a dual coreprocessor, triple core processor, quad core processor, etc.),microprocessor, etc. In some embodiments, the one or more processors maybe external to the apparatus, for example the one or more processors maybe a remote processor (e.g., a cloud based processor). Alternatively oradditionally, the one or more processors may be internal and/or local tothe apparatus. In this regard, a given circuit or components thereof maybe disposed locally (e.g., as part of a local server, a local computingsystem, etc.) or remotely (e.g., as part of a remote server such as acloud based server). To that end, a “circuit” as described herein mayinclude components that are distributed across one or more locations.

An exemplary system for implementing the overall system or portions ofthe embodiments might include a general purpose computing computers inthe form of computers, including a processing unit, a system memory, anda system bus that couples various system components including the systemmemory to the processing unit. Each memory device may includenon-transient volatile storage media, non-volatile storage media,non-transitory storage media (e.g., one or more volatile and/ornon-volatile memories), etc. In some embodiments, the non-volatile mediamay take the form of ROM, flash memory (e.g., flash memory such as NAND,3D NAND, NOR, 3D NOR, etc.), EEPROM, MRAM, magnetic storage, hard discs,optical discs, etc. In other embodiments, the volatile storage media maytake the form of RAM, TRAM, ZRAM, etc. Combinations of the above arealso included within the scope of machine-readable media. In thisregard, machine-executable instructions comprise, for example,instructions and data which cause a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or special purpose processing machines to perform acertain function or group of functions. Each respective memory devicemay be operable to maintain or otherwise store information relating tothe operations performed by one or more associated circuits, includingprocessor instructions and related data (e.g., database components,object code components, script components, etc.), in accordance with theexample embodiments described herein.

It should also be noted that the term “input devices,” as describedherein, may include any type of input device including, but not limitedto, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, joystick or other input devicesperforming a similar function. Comparatively, the term “output device,”as described herein, may include any type of output device including,but not limited to, a computer monitor, printer, facsimile machine, orother output devices performing a similar function.

Any foregoing references to currency or funds are intended to includefiat currencies, non-fiat currencies (e.g., precious metals), andmath-based currencies (often referred to as cryptocurrencies). Examplesof math-based currencies include Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and thelike.

It should be noted that although the diagrams herein may show a specificorder and composition of method steps, it is understood that the orderof these steps may differ from what is depicted. For example, two ormore steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence.Also, some method steps that are performed as discrete steps may becombined, steps being performed as a combined step may be separated intodiscrete steps, the sequence of certain processes may be reversed orotherwise varied, and the nature or number of discrete processes may bealtered or varied. The order or sequence of any element or apparatus maybe varied or substituted according to alternative embodiments.Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included withinthe scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims.Such variations will depend on the machine-readable media and hardwaresystems chosen and on designer choice. It is understood that all suchvariations are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, softwareand web implementations of the present disclosure could be accomplishedwith standard programming techniques with rule based logic and otherlogic to accomplish the various database searching steps, correlationsteps, comparison steps and decision steps.

The foregoing description of embodiments has been presented for purposesof illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive orto limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed, and modificationsand variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may beacquired from this disclosure. The embodiments were chosen and describedin order to explain the principals of the disclosure and its practicalapplication to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the variousembodiments and with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated. Other substitutions, modifications, changesand omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions andarrangement of the embodiments without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure as expressed in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus, comprising: a claim payment circuitstructured to receive an insurance claim payment request including aclaim amount from an insurance company computing system regarding aninsured entity, wherein the insurance claim payment request includes aclaim amount; a disposition circuit structured to: evaluate theinsurance claim payment request, and provide a final disposition messageresponsive to the evaluation, the final disposition message including anindication regarding an authorization to disburse a portion of funds ofa claim amount designated in the insurance claim payment request,wherein the provided disposition message activates a graphical userinterface to display the final disposition message; receive a workprogress indicator regarding an insured object associated with theinsurance payment request directly from a contractor device that isoperated by a contractor and not the insured entity, the work progressindicator including identifying information that identifies thecontractor and a tagged location data; an authorization circuitstructured to determine that the claim amount is above a predeterminedthreshold, and in response to determining the claim amount is above thepredetermined threshold, generate and provide an authorization requestto a user device associated with the insured entity, the authorizationrequest including a contractor identification request, and wherein theauthorization circuit is structured to verify the tagged location databy: determining a set of coordinates associated with the tagged locationdata by analyzing the tagged location data; and determining that the setof coordinates associated with the tagged location data matches ageographic location identified in the claim payment request; and a fundtransfer circuit structured to receive a response to the contractoridentification request and compare the identifying information to theresponse to confirm the identity of the contractor, and in response toconfirming the identity of the contractor and determining the set ofcoordinates associated with the tagged location data matches thegeographic location identified in the claim payment request, causedisbursal of the portion of funds to the insured entity responsive tothe final disposition message, wherein the work progress indicator isreceived before generating and providing the final disposition messageto instruct the fund transfer circuit to cause disbursal of at least aportion of the portion of funds.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe authorization request includes a time duration before an expirationof the insurance claim payment request.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein the authorization request includes a request for a passcode. 4.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein responsive to the claim amount beingbelow a threshold value, the portion of funds is equal to the claimamount, such that the fund transfer circuit is structured to causedisbursal of an entirety of the claim amount to the insured entity. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the insurance claim payment request isrelated to a multiple party check based on the insurance claim regardingthe insured entity.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the portion offunds is less than the claim amount, such that only a partial amount ofthe claim amount is caused, by the fund transfer circuit, to bedisbursed to the insured entity.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe work progress indicator further includes at least one of a quote fora repair to be performed and a bill for a repair performed.
 8. A method,comprising: receiving, by a processing circuit, an electronic insuranceclaim payment request based on an insurance claim regarding an insuredentity; evaluating, by the processing circuit, the electronic insuranceclaim payment request; receiving, by the processing circuit, a workprogression indicator regarding an insured object associated with theinsurance payment request directly from a contractor device that isoperated by a contractor and not the insured entity, the work progressindicator including identifying information that identifies thecontractor and a tagged location data; determining, by the processingcircuit, a claim amount in the insurance claim payment request is abovea predetermined threshold; in response to determining the claim amountin the insurance claim payment request is above the predeterminedthreshold, generating and providing, by the processing circuit, anauthorization request to a user device associated with the insuredentity, the authorization request including a contractor identificationrequest; receiving, by the processing circuit, a response to thecontractor identification request; comparing, by the processing circuit,the identifying information to the response to confirm the identity ofthe contractor; verifying, by the processing circuit, the taggedlocation data by: determining a set of coordinates associated with thetagged location data by analyzing the tagged location data; anddetermining that the set of coordinates associated with the taggedlocation data matches a geographic location identified in the claimpayment request; and causing, by the processing circuit, in response toreceiving a confirmation of the identity of the contractor anddetermining the set of coordinates associated with the tagged locationdata matches the geographic location identified in the claim paymentrequest, a disbursal of an amount of funds based on the electronicinsurance claim payment request to the insured entity.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the amount of funds is less than a full claim amountdesignated in the electronic insurance claim payment request.
 10. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the work progression indicator regarding theinsurance claim is received before causing disbursal of the amount offunds to the insured entity.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein the workprogression indicator further includes at least one of a quote for arepair to be performed and a bill for a repair performed.
 12. The methodof claim 8, wherein the disbursal of the amount of funds is provided tothe insured entity within one day of receiving the electronic insuranceclaim payment request.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the electronicinsurance claim payment request includes an electronic deposit request.14. The method of claim 8, wherein the processing circuit is structuredto provide the amount of funds electronically to the insured entity. 15.A system, comprising: a processing circuit comprising memory havinginstructions stored therein and at least one processor structured toexecute the instructions to: receive an insurance claim payment requestbased on an insurance claim regarding an insured entity; evaluate theinsurance claim payment request; receive a work progress indicatordirectly from a contractor device that is operated by a contractor andnot the insured entity, the work progress indicator regarding a repairof an insured object associated with the insurance claim paymentrequest, the work progress indicator including identifying informationthat identifies the contractor and a tagged location data; in responseto determining a claim amount in the insurance claim payment request isabove a predetermined threshold, generate and provide an authorizationrequest to a user device associated with the insured entity, theauthorization request including a contractor identification request;receive a response to the contractor identification request; compare theidentifying information to the response to confirm the identity of thecontractor; verify the tagged location data by: determining a set ofcoordinates associated with the tagged location data by analyzing thetagged location data; and determining that the set of coordinatesassociated with the tagged location data matches a geographic locationidentified in the claim payment request; and in response to confirmingthe identity of the contractor and determining the set of coordinatesassociated with the tagged location data matches the geographic locationidentified in the claim payment request, cause disbursal of an amount offunds based on the insurance claim payment request to the insuredentity.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein insurance claim paymentrequest includes an electronic deposit.
 17. The system of claim 15,wherein the amount of funds is less than a full claim amount designatedin the insurance claim payment request.
 18. The system of claim 15,wherein the work progress indicator is received prior to causingdisbursal of at least a portion of the amount of funds.
 19. The systemof claim 15, wherein the instructions include providing a message to acomputing system associated with an insurance company responsive tocausing the disbursal of the amount of funds.
 20. The system of claim15, wherein the disbursal of the amount of funds is provided to theinsured entity within one day of receiving the insurance claim paymentrequest.